Mike Jankowski, (born 1976) known as "Coach Janks," is a

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

and snowboarding coach.

Early life

Jankowski is from

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, the youngest child of Madaline and Len Jankowski. He graduated from Christian Brothers High School, and attended Northern Arizona University.

Coaching career

In the mid-to-late 1990s, Jankowski was a snowboarding instructor at Arizona Snowbowl near Flagstaff. He was coach of the U.S. Junior National Team, then promoted to assistant coach of the Olympic Team, before being given the head coaching job. Jankowski was the Head U.S. Freeskiing and U.S. Snowboarding Coach, and the U.S. Snowboarding

Halfpipe A half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX, Inline skating, skating, and scooter riding. Overview The structure resembles a cross-section of a swimming pool, essentially t ...

and

Slopestyle Slopestyle is a winter sport in which athletes ski or snowboard down a course including a variety of obstacles including rails, jumps and other terrain park features. Points are scored for amplitude, originality and quality of tricks. The disc ...

Head Coach, for the 2014 U.S. Snowboarding Team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He has coached

Gretchen Bleiler Gretchen Elisabeth Bleiler (born April 10, 1981) is an American former professional halfpipe snowboarder. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics. Career Born in Toledo, Ohio, Bleiler aspired to compete in the Winter X Games from a very you ...

Kelly Clark Kelly Clark (born July 26, 1983) is an American snowboarder who won halfpipe gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Clark was born in Newport, Rhode Island. She started snowboarding when she was 7 years old, began competing in 1999, and became a me ...

, Arielle Gold,

Taylor Gold Taylor Gold (born November 17, 1993) is an American Olympian snowboarder. He competes in the halfpipe. He is a two-time U.S. Revolution Tour champion, 2013 Copper Mountain Grand Prix/World Cup champion, 2014 Burton US Open champion, and 2014 ...

Danny Kass Daniel "Danny" Kass (born September 21, 1982) is an American professional snowboarder who has competed at the Olympic level. Kass was born in Pompton Plains, New Jersey, and began snowboarding in the area at the age of twelve. His home slopes a ...

Scotty Lago Scotty Lago (born November 12, 1987) is an American snowboarder. He is the 2004 world quarterpipe champion and winner of a bronze medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Career Lago has been riding since 1996. He is sponsored by Hudsen Collective, ...

Hannah Teter Hannah Teter (born January 27, 1987) is an American snowboarder. She is an Olympic champion, having won the gold medal in the halfpipe at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy and silver at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

, and

Shaun White Shaun Roger White (born September 3, 1986) is an American former professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He holds the world record for the most X G ...

, and as of February 2014 had coached athletes to 19 Olympic medals since 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jankowski, Mike Living people Sportspeople from Memphis, Tennessee Northern Arizona University alumni Snowboarding in the United States Skiing in the United States 1976 births